


Sweet Caramel

by lilacmeraki



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Falling In Love, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, alexa play jealousy by monsta x, copious amounts of blushing, gyuhao best platonic soulmates, head canon that hao is a save the turtles environmentalist, jun is oblivious the poor boy, kinda slow burn, minghao gets sad a lot, mingyu best best friend
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23450215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacmeraki/pseuds/lilacmeraki
Summary: 21 year old Xu Minghao thought he had his life together. He had just recently opened up his own coffee shop, business was blooming and he was overall pretty content not gonna lie. One day he meets a pretty man who flips his entire life upside down. The once calm and collected man became a flustered mess every time he met the other beautiful man. Someone help him. Please.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8, minor Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon - Relationship
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> tas' personal playlist: Colde - LOVE pt. 1 album, Chungha - At the end, Cosmic Boy - Can I love, DALsooobin - Katchup, DAY6 - I like you
> 
> nils' personal playlist: Chase Atlantic - Falling, SEVENTEEN - Adore U, RINI - Aphrodite, Austin Hull - 100 Ways, Kris Wu - Er San

December had just begun, snow was falling softly onto the wet ground and Christmas lights sparkled prettily around the town illuminating the dark night sky. People were pitter-pattering outside, hurried steps trying to avoid the light unexpected snow and move to someplace warmer. Teens were excited, eyes lighting up at the prospect of an oncoming snowball battle. Children tugged on their parents’ sleeves, pointing upwards to the sky in sheer delight causing Minghao to smile at their pure innocence. 

Minghao was sat beside the window stopping his people-watching and glanced down at his book, glasses resting at the bridge of his nose as he read the befitting words: 'this world has infinite opportunities but your time in this world is finite'. The upper corners of his lips curled into a soft smile as he looked at the now lukewarm americano (a special recipe, garnished with some cinnamon to better reflect the winter season) resting on the table.

He leaned back in the seat, exhaling a puff of air. Tomorrow was his big day, the grand opening of his coffee shop Infinity. Everything he had ever dreamed of was finally becoming a reality. 

He pondered the different outcomes of his shop’s future. It could be a complete disaster and the business could flop, which essentially proved his parents right. It could turn out to be something neutral and lowkey, a small business bringing in few but loyal customers with an odd minority of curious souls entering here and there. Or, it could be amazing and everything Minghao had ever wanted with many customers frequenting and leaving satisfied and content. 

Honestly though, it did not matter to Minghao how the establishment would end up to be in the future. He would be happy with many customers, he would be happy with few customers and he would _even_ be happy with no customers. As long as he followed along with his ambitions and goals, he promised he would be proud of himself. He knows for a fact all his precious friends are. He could show his parents once and for all that his aspirations weren’t a pipe dream that were unattainable and unsustainable.

  
  


* * *

"Jeonghan hyung! We need another cappuccino to go, please." 

It was the first day of his grand opening. Getting the shop ready for the awaited opening was chaotic in itself. Minghao _had_ to have everything ready and perfect to make everyone fall in love with it just as Hao already was. 

He decided on the decor with the help of Mingyu, his childhood best friend, who was the only one capable of shifting furniture around like it weighed nothing. The walls were painted grey with intricate gold detailing that Minghao himself had painted. The floor and tables were made of oak, placed in a certain arrangement which Seungcheol insisted were good feng shui whilst fairy lights and plants were dotted around the shop. As if his friends weren’t annoying enough, they claimed he was missing an important detail in his place to which they then magically procured many small but familiar art canvases. The pieces of art which Minghao and Mingyu themselves had completed were hung on the walls at the insistence of his friends, to add to the artistic vibe the shop had going on.

The coffee shop had officially opened its doors at 8:15am sharp, for consideration of early morning workers and students. Mingyu had initially complained at the early start even though he would not be an actual employee, seemingly outraged on the behalf of Minghao having to wake up earlier to prepare for the shop (“Hao, 8:15 is too damn early,” Mingyu declared, pulling a disgusted face. “Gyu, you’re not even the one that’s gonna be working, you fool,” Minghao replied back).

Minghao did not expect many customers to take an interest in his business but as soon as the doors opened, one by one curious people started sliding in. This places him now to his current state of panic. 

"Seungcheol hyung! Table 8 needs clearing as soon as possible!"

Sweat was forming on the sides of his forehead as Minghao processed the many orders, but inside he felt warm and happy. Jeonghan, his barista and head baker, had been working harder than him creating the varieties of coffees and mini delicacies to serve, yet with every new order he could see his hyung's smile. Seungcheol was running around in a frenzy greeting the customers and clearing their tables, his cheerful attitude never faltering. Minghao was grateful that he had such amazing friends who helped him experience the joy of opening his own coffee shop.

Yet another person arrived at the register wanting to make a coffee order. Minghao put on his best smile.

“Hi there, what would you like to order?”

  
  


* * *

"Minghao baby, we did it!" Jeonghan shouted whilst squishing and pulling at his cheeks. 

"Ow hyung, that hurts!" Minghao rubbed his reddened cheeks and frowned slightly at Jeonghan who was now holding back his tears. Seungcheol was slumped back in a chair looking tired but satisfied after being on his feet all day.

"Hao, you should be proud of yourself, Infinity was overflowing with customers today!" Seungcheol exclaimed. 

Hao felt himself wanting to join his Jeonghan hyung and tear up with him. "I wouldn't have been able to do this all without you guys." He said genuinely. And… there we go, the tears finally streamed out and ran down his face. Jeonghan also released his tears and embraced Minghao in a hug, the two of them smiling at each other like fools with growing red eyes.

Seungcheol laughed loudly at the two, sneakily taking a picture of them looking like a hot mess, keeping in mind to post it on the shared Instagram account they had opened for the coffee shop. 

(A couple of minutes later Seungcheol stands up to join them, all three of them embracing whilst sniffling.)

However, the bliss Minghao was currently feeling wouldn't last long with the arrival of Moon Junhui into his shop and his life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys hope u enjoy this collab fic


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Can I have two caramel lattes-" 
> 
> Suddenly, a tall tan boy barged into the shorter boy's left side, wrapping one arm around his neck. "Hey Dino, what's taking so long, huh? You've been here for ages!" he exclaimed. 
> 
> Minghao blushed when he heard that, judging by those words, clearly he'd been out of it for a long while in front of the younger.

Winter examinations were approaching fast before Christmas break started, students have been busy studying at Infinity enjoying the comforting quiet atmosphere. Minghao stood behind the counter watching the students diligently revise for their exams. A sinking feeling in his chest settled as he was reminded of his own uni days and the distressing day he told his parents he'd be dropping out of university to open a coffee shop.

_"You've let us down Minghao, how can you drop out of your literature degree and pursue coffee of all things," his mum angrily scolded._

_And it's not like his dad was any better. "This is ridiculous, I thought I raised a better son."_

Neither parent had supported his decision to follow what he had actually wanted to do, ashamed at the fact that Minghao had left a prestigious university for lesser things. He admits, opening a small business like Minghao always dreamed of may have not been a smart decision on his part, especially since he would have been going into his final year. His lecturers praised him constantly for the work he did but Minghao didn't feel too immersed in the degree. 

Sure, he didn't know if the establishment would even pick up or not. But he'd rather do what _he_ wants to do, rather than to stay and waste his life away in something he isn't as passionate about. You know what they say, 'it's better to die than to live without passion'. 

Literature was something he enjoyed, but only as a hobby. The only reason he had picked it as a degree in the first place was because his best friend told him he was kinda good at it. He didn't actually know what he wanted to do as a future career other than owning his own shop he could put his blood, sweat and tears into that he could grow to be proud of. 

Minghao's parents' anger prickled his skin whilst his eyes held tears threatening to spill out. In the end he couldn't convince his parents and reluctantly left his family home, the place he had stayed in his whole 21 years of living, to go move into his best friend's apartment. 

His best friend in question, Kim Mingyu, had a fairly neat apartment, due to his friend's housewife-like tendencies, and moving in with him hadn't been as difficult as he thought it would be. Mingyu was his emotional support system when times were tough and he's glad to have someone by his side during the lowest points of his life. 

"Mingyu-ah thanks for letting me move in," Minghao softly said whilst unpacking his belongings in the spare bedroom right next to Mingyu's. 

"It'll be great living together, HaoHao!" Mingyu spoke, excitedly jumping onto the bed. 

"I bet it will be," Minghao smiled from ear to ear.

"So are you going to tell me why you left your parents, Hao?"

His smile dropped. He knew this was coming since they were talking about his best friend here (seriously, the guy is curious about everything and anything) but it didn't make it any less painful. He sighed. Hao smoothed out the sheets of the bed, sat down right next to where his best friend lay and prepared to tell his day one rock everything. 

"Well Mingyu, this whole thing all started when I saw this Buzzfeed quiz about what type of coffee you are," Hao started. 

("Wait, that actually sounds really cool, send me a link to it later, I wanna know what kinda coffee I am," interrupted Mingyu, to which Minghao glared at.)

  
  


* * *

It was the first year of university when Minghao discovered coffee. He was fascinated by the sweet smells, the bitter taste and the variety of drinks that could be born from a single coffee bean. It was love at first sight and after thorough research into the coffee industry, he decided that he wanted to open his own cafe specialising in coffee. He hoped it could have blossomed into a family run business like his father had once desired, however, Minghao's parents were unwilling to allow him to throw away his education to pursue the 'art of coffee'. 

From a young age Minghao had been a passionate and creative person, he'd always been goal orientated and was determined to follow through with any plans he'd conjured up. So that's exactly what he did with the opening of Infinity, even if his parents did disapprove of his decisions. 

"Hello, sir? Mister, are you there?" 

Minghao snapped back to reality when a short light brown haired boy lightly poked him on his arm. The boy immediately drew his hand back, looking slightly guilty at having touched the owner. 

"Ah yes, sorry about that, what would you like?" Minghao asked, embarrassed. 

"Can I have two caramel lattes-" 

Suddenly, a tall tan boy barged into the shorter boy's left side, wrapping one arm around his neck. "Hey Dino, what's taking so long, huh? You've been here for ages!" he exclaimed. 

Minghao blushed when he heard that, judging by those words, clearly he'd been out of it for a long while in front of the younger. 

Minghao's eyes locked with the aforementioned tall boy's eyes. They were sparkly, vibrant and full of life. The new man was a breath of fresh air, cheekbones chiselled into perfection, eyes slanted in a mischievous smile, lips pressed up into a fading smirk. His hair was styled in an artfully messy way, covering his forehead and barely brushing his eyebrows. His eyebrows!! His eyebrows were absolutely perfect, they looked like what MUA's aimed for (don't ask Minghao how he knows that, he's also a curious boy like Mingyu). 

He felt like one of those main characters in romcoms, the ones who got all dumbstruck and embarrassing because of the love interest. He could feel his heart beating in his ears as his hands began to feel clammy. His mouth felt like cotton staring at the beautiful person in front of him.

_Fuck._

He's absolutely _stunning_. 


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You'd expect a blossoming friendship between a cafe owner and one of his regulars however, this was not the case. Both Jun and Minghao rarely exchanged words outside their usual greeting and ordering of coffee. Heck, Jun didn't even know Minghao's last name and he felt oddly enraged about the fact. Their interactions would mostly compose of the two of them feeling extremely flustered around each other including, but not limited to, copious amounts of stuttering and shy smiling.

Jun feeling flustered would be a massive understatement, he felt giddy and tingly just looking at the handsome cafe owner. He was having a massive breakdown inside watching the cute owner's pointy ears tinged with red whilst his big eyes were glittering brightly under the hot cafe lights.

The man in front of him, his name Minghao as shown by the nametag he wore, looked about his age or slightly older and oh lord, Jun was a goddamn sucker for older men. Under the lights, he looked as if he himself was the god of light Apollo, fine features making him look soft and delicate. His lips were set in an unconscious full pout, eyebrows lightly furrowed in embarrassment as they stared at each other.

He looked like he'd been sculpted to perfection because ain't no way did the man just _happen_ to look like an absolute ethereal angel. Like seriously, God must have spilled an entire jar of 'cute', 'pretty' and dare he say… 'sexy' all over him when He was making him. Jun decided that he would accept no other explanation. 

"Jun? Earth to Moon Junhui? Are you listening?" his close friend Dino said, elbowing Jun. Um.. ouch that actually really hurt, can the man in front of him kiss it better?

"Huh?" Jun blushed. "Yes, erm… have you ordered our drinks? Let's sit back down." Dino whispered a quick sorry, thanked the man still staring at the other boy in front of him and left to sit at their table along with Jun and the rest of the boys.

"Woah, what was that Jun? You totally spaced out for a good few minutes, are you feeling okay?" Dino asked worryingly. Bless the poor boy, he didn't know what was going on through Jun's head at that moment.

"The cafe owner is hot don't you think, Moon Junhui?" Seungkwan butted in, giggling at the crimson shade that covered Jun's face whilst wiggling his eyebrows furiously. 

"Lay off it Seungkwan, our boy is finally growing up! I'm so proud!" Seungkwan's longtime boyfriend Vernon wiped away his imaginary tears looking at Jun heating up in his seat. On a normal day, Jun would flip off his friends and laugh them off but today was just not that day. 

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about and you look really weird doing that, Kwannie! Anyways, I'll be leaving first, I think I'm late for dinner!" Jun grabbed his laptop bag and coat and hurriedly stood up to leave the cafe. Dino, Seungkwan and Vernon looked at each other snickering amongst themselves watching the cute actions of their friend. After all, it wasn't everyday you'd see a Moon Junhui flustered over a boy. Normally, Jun was the one making the other flustered which, looking over to the counter showed exactly just that. 

"You're not gonna get your coffee we just ordered?" Dino teasingly asked, but Junhui had already left the cafe before he had even finished the question. 

"Mans is already whipped for a pretty boy, you know," whispered Vernon, which caused Seungkwan to release a boisterous loud laugh. Dino immediately shushed the boy, feeling embarrassed and conscious at the eyes that turned to stare at them all judgemental.

"Don't mind any of them, our young Dino," Seungkwan supplied. "They're all just jealous at how beautiful my laugh is!" Vernon instantly vigorously nodded his assent as Dino rolled his eyes at his friends' silly antics. 

On the other side of the cafe, stood the still flustered owner. "Moon Junhui is a nice name..." Minghao thought whilst watching the boy leave the cafe in a hurry.

  
  


* * *

Days passed by and Jun had become a regular at Infinity. Every day at 3pm he'd arrive at the cafe to order a large caramel latte without fail. Afterwards, he'd stay in the place for a good few hours to try (keyword: try) and complete some work. Most of his time however, was spent on frequent but short glances at the owner to see what he was doing. Yes, the employer could be doing something completely different not only a minute later, it wasn't impossible!

You'd expect a blossoming friendship between a cafe owner and one of his regulars however, this was not the case. Both Jun and Minghao rarely exchanged words outside their usual greeting and ordering of coffee. Heck, Jun didn't even know Minghao's last name and he felt oddly enraged about the fact. Their interactions would mostly compose of the two of them feeling extremely flustered around each other including, but not limited to, copious amounts of stuttering and shy smiling. 

One evening, Jun had finally plucked up the courage to speak to Minghao. It was crazy, no one, super pretty or not, had ever affected him like this. His cool demeanour was completely walked over on and shattered by the elegant grace of Xu Minghao (he found out his last name because of one of the workers around the cafe, thank god) and it hurt Jun's ego. He was usually loud and went about his days with a fist full of confidence. This all came crashing down the day Minghao looked at him with those beautiful glittering eyes of his. Call him a cliché fool but he was completely determined to make Minghao fall in love with him. And today was the day he'd get over his first obstacle: speaking to him like a normal human being. 

The cafe was full to the brim this evening and Minghao was drowning in coffee orders. He'd lost track of time and all the customers began merging into one. An endless stream of customers had gathered around Minghao and he began to feel overwhelmed, slightly agitated.

Jun sidled up to the counter. "Hi, can I have one large caramel latte please?"

"Coming right up."

"So uh, how are y-"

"NEXT CUSTOMER PLEASE!" Minghao interrupted. 

Jun left the cafe feeling sad and disheartened.

Mission 1: 'Engage in a normal conversation with Minghao' was a failure. 


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minghao giggles softly at the interaction, not before sending a meaningful look to Mingyu and turns to look at Jun who had already been staring at him. They looked at each other for a few minutes but it felt like hours had passed by. 
> 
> "Ahem!" Mingyu clears his throat, smirking. "Can I get a waffle? Can I please get a waffle??" Jun tore his gaze away from Minghao but he still noticed the slight blush on his face.

Due to the cafe being close to a university, the place had steadily become busier as the days went by. Students seemed to really like the coffee shop, going out of their way to actually compliment Minghao and his workers for all the work they put into the place. Already there were many regulars who came almost every day to order some coffee and to do some work. 

Minghao was undoubtedly very happy and proud. However, Minghao was still feeling lethargic from the busy service of the night before. Thankfully, the cafe was quieter today.

"HaoHao!" a booming voice called out. Mingyu burst through the doors and immediately made his way up to the counter.

Minghao smiled up at his best friend. "Hey Gyu, what brings you here?"

"I've missed you, I've been so busy recently, we hardly see each other even at the apartment!" 

It was true, Mingyu had been really preoccupied with his university studies and part time job. Lately, it'd been difficult balancing his work and social life but he made sure to visit Minghao often as the former worried a lot about him. Since the boys had known each other from basically the womb - as their parents were also best friends - they always stuck close. Even back when Minghao and Mingyu attended different universities and weren’t able to see each other as often, the two made sure to call each other everyday for any updates.

Mingyu had his chin resting on his hands looking up at Minghao engaging in meaningless chatter. The two were catching up on everything the other had missed in the few days they hadn’t seen each other.

“Jeon told me my work was really good! But he said there were still some obvious mistakes which brought my marks down…” Mingyu frowned as he thought of his near perfect mark. You may think the man was disheartened he wasn’t able to get full marks, however, the real reason he frowned was because he was afraid his trainee teacher would be disappointed in him.

"Oh, hyung?" a soft but familiar voice called out, pulling Mingyu out of his thoughts.

"Yes," Both Minghao and Mingyu answered in unison then looked back at each other.

Minghao was the first to speak up.

"Gyu, you know him?" he asked curiously whilst Jun's face slowly burned up at the awkward encounter. 

"He's my classmate from university, we play basketball together too sometimes,” he answered. “Wait, how do you know Jun?" Mingyu asked as an afterthought.

"I...erm… I don't know him. No, I mean I do, he's a regular here. Caramel latte right?" Minghao spoke, tripping over his words, feeling the heat rise up his neck.

“Y-yes,” Junhui stuttered.

"Ah I see, let's sit down and chat Junnie, Hao you join us too!" Mingyu interrupted, catching onto the heavy awkwardness in the air. God bless him.

Minghao followed them to a table feeling slightly irked by the pet name. They all sat down, Jun and Minghao sitting directly across each other and looking down at their feet, playing with their fingers. It was uncomfortable to say the least. 

"So Mingyu hyung, have you done the assignment for Mr Jeon's class?" Jun asked, breaking the deafening silence. 

"All done and submitted." he replied. 

"Wow I'm impressed, you really do like Mr. Jeon, don't you?" Jun asked with a smirk on his face. Mingyu sputters and nearly chokes on his drink, he shoots a dark look at Jun who immediately looks away smiling. Even Junhui, a pretty oblivious boy, caught onto the fact that Mingyu had a slight _thing_ for their trainee teacher. It was no secret to anyone that knew Mingyu that he harboured just a teeny tiny crush on his university teacher, but that was a story for another day. Minghao giggled softly at the interaction, not before sending a meaningful look to Mingyu and turned to look at Jun who had already been staring at him. They looked at each other for a few minutes but it felt like hours had passed by. 

"Ahem!" Mingyu cleared his throat, smirking. "Can I get a waffle? Can I _please_ get a waffle??" Jun tore his gaze away from Minghao but he still noticed the slight blush on his face. 

Cute. 

"Mingyu, you dork. Please, for the love of god, be _quiet_ ," Minghao whispered. You can count on his nerdy best friend whenever to make dead vine jokes and make Hao embarrassed. 

"I think I should go back over to the counter," Minghao said to the table.

"To do what exactly? Serve your imaginary customers? Sit back down Hao and stop overworking yourself!" Mingyu was always like this, he knew how to keep Minghao in check and stop him from stressing out too much. To be perfectly honest, Minghao only wanted to preserve his weak heart and avoid Looking Directly at Jun. He's fragile and must be handled with care, okay!

Minghao reluctantly sat back down and proceeded to watch Jun pull out his university work from his bag. 

"History."

"What?" Minghao startled, he had spaced out for a bit. 

"I take history classes and Mingyu hyung told me you used to do literature, right?"

_Mingyu, that fucker, why is he talking about me for?_

"Uhh yes, I dropped out though haha," There was a tinge of hurt evident in his voice that Jun picked up on but thankfully dropped. He kept a tiny note in the back of his head to ask Minghao about it for when the two hopefully got closer.

For now though, Jun would do his best to get to know more about the other boy he had become enamoured with given the chance his Mingyu hyung gave him. Thank the lords for Kim Mingyu, the best wingman ever!

“So... you and Mingyu Hyung are the same age, right? How did the two of you meet?”

“Ahh, we’ve practically been attached since the womb, you know! Me and HaoHao are two peas in a pod, peanut butter and jelly, like… paper and glue and-”

“Gyu,” Minghao groaned. “Stop with the analogies. I think he gets it, you nerd.”

“Hey!” His best friend pouted. “ _You’re_ the nerd here!”

Jun looked on with a smile at the silly friends.


	5. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Sooo… does that mean there's something going on between you and Mingyu hyung?" Jun asked, curious. 
> 
> "Mingyu-ah? Oh my God, what? Oh God no no no, he's like my actual brother," Minghao pulled a face, disgusted at the thought of Mingyu and him as a couple.

For the next few days, Jun visited Infinity a lot more than usual. Minghao had noticed the taller man showing up more and more and felt himself lighting up each time he saw him.

After the encounter with Mingyu, Jun had seemed a lot more confident than the previous stumbling, flustered Jun that Minghao had come to know. It's safe to say that Minghao… missed the shy version of Junhui. Instead, the shorter older male was the only one who would still stutter and furiously blush whenever the two spoke, as if he was a teenager experiencing a crush for the first time.

The two had gotten closer over the past few days. In fact, Minghao can now confidently confirm the two are friends, definitely a certain upgrade from the shy and awkward acquaintances the two used to be. 

"Hao!" Jun called out, waving at him excitedly even though the two saw each other on a daily basis.

"Junhui! Hi, how are you today?" Minghao smiled.

"Great now that I've seen you," Jun winked and Minghao instantly flushed red. "So I was wondering if you were free tomorrow evening, there's a new movie coming out that everyone's been raving about!" 

_W-wait a minute… Is Jun… asking me out?_

Suddenly Minghao's eyes go wide, his heart is beating faster, his ears and cheeks the deepest red you'll see them go.

Jun tapped his fingertips lightly against Minghao's forehead, "Knock knock, you in there, Hao?"

Minghao startled to which Jun smiled softly at. "O-oh! Yes um, I… should be free since it's the weekend tomorrow?"

"Great! We can meet at the cinemas tomorrow at say… 6pm? We can go eat afterwards too!" Jun replied.

_Oh God, a dinner too? How am I going to survive this without bursting into flames?!_

"Sure! I'll meet you there! So… a large caramel latte right?" 

"Actually.. today seems like a good day, I think I'll try something different today," 

Minghao is shocked, something different? In the entire 3 weeks Minghao had known Junhui, the only thing the boy had ordered had been a large caramel latte. 

_I wonder what spurred this change?_

"You know what, throw in a blueberry muffin along with the caramel latte, I'm feeling a bit crazy today," Junhui spoke after some serious deliberation. 

Minghao laughed. Of course, the sweet caramel latte is still a must for the Moon Junhui.

  
  


* * *

A few hours later Junhui returned to the counter to speak with the owner.

"Hey Minghao, I just realised we still don't have each other's phone number. I need yours so I can text you the details!"

"Oh o-okay, hold on. A-also, please just call me Hao! That's what everyone calls me anyways heh,"

"Ah.. everyone? I thought Mingyu hyung calls you HaoHao?" 

"Hm? Mingyu? Ah yes, he's the only one who calls me that and has been calling me that for as long as I can remember, haha." 

"Sooo… does that mean there's something going on between you and Mingyu hyung?" Jun asked, curious. 

"Mingyu-ah? Oh my God, what? Oh God no no no, he's like my actual brother," Minghao pulled a face, disgusted at the thought of Mingyu and him as a couple. 

It actually did happen once, when they were about 14. But they Do Not talk about that dreadful time where the two thought they had to go out with each other because their friends had insisted they were "soulmates". ( _Damn you, Jeongcheol.)_ Now, of course they are the best soulmates in the world, but they are entirely platonic and will forever _remain_ platonic soulmates. Just the thought of dating Mingyu brought Minghao a headache because lord knows how exhausting that time was for the both of them. 

"Oh, then that's good." Jun replied. 

_Good? What on earth does he mean by that?_

* * *

When Junhui returned to his home, he immediately went to his room and flopped onto his bed. 

Well Junhui boy, you fucked it. Good? "Then that's good???" Are you serious? You probably scared Minghao off and creeped him out. Good job stupid Moon Junhui. Why would I throw in dinner too?? I'm going to need to Google romantic dinner places now and hope for the best. I couldn't possibly take him to a takeaway, he's too refined for something like that. I got too confident too quickly, maybe he thinks I came off as too strong, oh God. Let's just wallow in self-pity now. I need some ice cream. Scratch that, I need pizza AND ice cream. Tonight we're eating our feelings away and wallowing in self pity!

  
  


* * *

When Minghao returned to the apartment, he immediately rushed into Mingyu's room, waking up the poor boy from his well needed beauty nap. 

"Oh dear, oh God, a movie and dinner. Lord, I feel so sick, what have I done?" Minghao rambled, pacing up and down Mingyu's room. Mingyu grumbled and watched his best friend turn almost purple from panic. 

"Care to explain why you decided to come into MY room to have an existential crisis, Hao?" Mingyu spoke, annoyed. 

"He is so cocky! 'Then that's good', GOOD, what does he even mean by that???"

Mingyu sat up and grabbed Minghao's face. "If you don't explain why you're freaking out right now, I'll tell Junnie you sleep with a kermit plush." he threatened.

Upon hearing Jun's name, Minghao snapped out of his frenzy. "YOU WOULDN'T DARE KIM MINGYU!" he shouted, prying himself away from Mingyu's cold hands. 

"Now that I've got your attention, will you please tell me what's bothering you?" Mingyu pleaded with his puppy dog eyes. 

Minghao calmly tried to explain The Date situation. 

"Ahhh my baby is all grown up! Your first date! How exciting!" Mingyu leapt up, ruffling Minghao's hair like a proud father. 

"I hate you." Hao retorted. It was a bit embarrassing that this would be his first real date (the entire 1 week with Mingyu absolutely did _not_ count, in fact Hao had completely deleted that time from his memory), Minghao didn’t feel like he ever needed to date others as he was busy with his own life. However, he was now regretting that decision because of his immense lack of dating experience.

"I'm guessing you won't need help with your date fit then." Mingyu laughed loudly, he was too amused by the slightly younger’s suffering. "No, no, help me please I'm ready to _perish._ "


	6. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Who the fuck paints like Michangelo before a date?" Mingyu huffed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> summary just had to be my (tas) fave line of this chap,, anyways enjoy :))

A day later, after a sleepless night, Minghao was up early, clattering about the living room in the Mings' squared apartment. 

_Oh, God. Why am I so nervous about today?_

The night before, Minghao had been thinking about Junhui, his perfect height and his perfect smile, how his eyes light up whenever Hao had brought him his go to coffee, how the light shined on him in a certain way, making him seem like a damn demigod and- Oh God. He was absolutely _whipped_ for the guy. A guy who had just met barely 3 weeks ago.

And it scared Minghao. It scared him how fast he fell and how hard he fell on top of that. Lately it seemed like all his thoughts were just _Junhui, Junhui, Junhui_. 

He woke up? _I wonder if Junhui is awake at this time._ He brushed his teeth? _I wonder if Junhui likes mint chocolate_ . He tried out a new recipe for his cafe? _I wonder if I could get Junhui to trial this. Would he like this?_

Yeah. He was damn whipped alright. But honestly who could blame him when Jun is the actual definition of sunshine, he was definitely hot enough to be…

Back to his current predicament. He was thinking about why he was so nervous and chalked it down to 3 possibilities:

  1. He accidentally took some drugs because someone tried to roofie him so he's now suffering from withdrawal symptoms
  2. He was unconsciously giving out distress signals because some aliens had tried to abduct him in his half-sleep but failed… or did they? 
  3. He was in love with Moon Junhui



After some careful consideration he ruled out the first possibility (with some reluctance) because he hadn't gone out at all other than to work at his beloved cafe, so the only person who _could_ roofie him was Mingyu. There was no chance that the nerd could ever roofie him. Their relationship was based on pure love and respect for each other after all.

The second possibility he wasn't too happy ruling out either because 1. some aliens could have tried kidnapping him! You could never fully rule out a potential alien abduction. and 2. that then meant that… Minghao… Xu Minghao… was in lo- in lov- God, he can't even say it!

Mingyu came into the room whilst Minghao was going through yet another existential crisis (seriously what was up with Mingyu witnessing all these, Minghao can't have no peace), all 6 feet 2 of his gangly body trudging towards the kitchen and barely missing banging his arm into the doorframe.

"Hey HaoHao," he mumbled sleepily. "Wha-" a yawn. "What're you doin' up so early?"

Minghao suspiciously eyed Mingyu. Ok so maybe he hadn't ruled out that first possibility completely. 

He hated to admit it but Mingyu was right, it _was_ early (8am to be exact), he had 10 hours to kill before he met up with Jun. 

The coffee shop was closed today so he couldn't go there, Mingyu was probably going to spend the day in the gym or working on assignments for his beloved Mr Jeon. It's okay, he's got this, what does he normally do on a weekend? 

That's right! He unleashes his inner art hoe and de-stresses with paint and music. 

After several hours, an array of acrylic paints and wet paint brushes were scattered on the floor. Thankfully, most of the paint he used was on the canvas he'd started, but he did have splotches of green and red applied on his face and hair. He desperately _needed_ to shower before he met Jun later. 

"HAO! HURRY THE FUCK UP! YOU'RE USING UP ALL THE HOT WATER DAMMIT!!!" 

Minghao sighed before yelling back from the bathroom. "CAN YOU WAIT 10 MINUTES JEEZ, I STILL HAVE PAINT IN MY HAIR!" 

"Who the fuck paints like Michangelo before a date?" Mingyu huffed.

A few moments later, Minghao finally stepped out of the bathroom looking like a kicked puppy, all pouty and sulky. 

"Oh baby no, what's wrong?" Mingyu rushed over to his side pulling him in close.

"What if he-" 

"Xu Minghao, don't you dare finish the end of that sentence because you are GORGEOUS and LIKEABLE, hell you're LOVEABLE. He'd be a fool to not fall for you. Now you sit your ass down whilst I dry your hair." 

Minghao glanced at the time and saw it was nearly 5:30pm. SHIT! He had 15 minutes before he met Jun at the bus stop. _Yes_ , the bus stop. Cars are expensive and really bad for the environment!

He needed to pull together an outfit ASAP and with the help of Mingyu they pieced together a passable fit. A grey turtleneck, beige trenchcoat and silver rimmed glasses that Mingyu insisted would increase his "cute points". Minghao left the apartment and made his way towards the bus stop. 

_Fuck. Is that him? He looks like an angel_ . Jun thought. _And I look like this? An all black outfit is not date worthy at all!! Wait, glasses?? He's wearing_ **_glasses._ ** _Someone catch me, I'm going to faint please._

Minghao could see Jun stood waiting under the bus shelter, he looked beautiful. The wind was blowing softly through his hair and watching him snuggle into his coat, his chin tucked into the collar made Minghao's heart thrum. 

"H-Hey you ready to go?" Jun beamed as the bus approached the two of them. 

They found two seats and sat down awkwardly. Minghao's hands were fidgeting a lot so he decided to scroll through his phone hoping to find something, _anything_ to ease the tension. 

"No way you listen to their podcasts too?!" Jun's eyes doubled in size when he saw Minghao scrolling through various podcast clips. 

"Shut up they're amazing, I haven't found anyone who listens to them, that's so crazy!" 

"Same! Dino makes fun of me whenever I choose to listen to podcasts over music but it's a nice change sometimes, you know?"

 _Is this fate?_ Minghao squealed internally.

"Do you want to listen to an episode now?" Minghao suggested, slightly burning up.

"S-sure!" 

He passed an earphone to Jun, they both giggled in their seats and spoke amongst themselves until they finally arrived at the cinema. 

"I chose the movie myself, Parasite. I hope you don't mind," Jun said, scratching his head.

"It's okay, Junnie. I'm sure I'll enjoy it as long as I'm with you," Minghao beamed.

Throughout the course of the movie, Jun couldn't focus on the screen instead, he was mentally debating whether he should hold Minghao's hand or not. Luckily for him, Minghao was having the exact same battle in his head too. _Fuck it shouldn't be this hard,_ they both thought.

Their fingers touched and they both retracted their hands as if they were burned by the sparks that flew. _Fuck it_ Jun thought. He grabbed Minghao's fingers and interlocked them with his own. Their hands were sweaty and clammy but it didn't matter, they were happy. 

Once the movie finished they both exited the cinema still hand in hand. 

Jun paused. Then he turned red. He stared resolutely down at the floor, unwilling to look Minghao in the eyes. 

"Hey Junnie," Minghao giggled. "What's with you? Normally you're so confident." 

"Yes but _Hao_ ," Junhui whined. "I still get nervous with you every. single. time." He pouted. "Why do you always seem so composed?" 

This time Minghao laughed harder. "Composed? I feel like I'm going to burst into tiny Minghao pieces each time I see you!" 

"Hey hey hey, please don't turn into tiny Minghao pieces," Jun said. "You're already so tiny, how can I fit you perfectly in my arms if you're tini _er_?"

Minghao sighed. Now _there's_ his confident Moon Junhui. "Do you want me to dropkick you to America because I will do it, just you fucking watch Moon Junhui!" 

"Oh no, I'm so scared! The mighty Xu Minghao is going to hurt me!" 

"Hey! For your information I know martial arts very well!" 

"Hmm, maybe you do. But you like me too much to do anything to hurt me." He stuck out his tongue, not noticing the drop in Minghao's smile. 

_Yeah. I do like you, Moon Junhui. Stupid stupid stupid Hao. I like you so fucking much._

_IlikeyouIlikeyouIlikeyouIlikeyouIlikeyou._

"Junnie!" An unfamiliar voice shouted from across the street. 

Jun swung his head around and was face to face with a masked blonde man. 

"Can I help you?" he asked, confused. 

The tall man pulled down his black mask and smiled brightly. "It's me, Junnie!"

Minghao frowned, watching this peculiar event unfold. _Who is this man? Why does he keep calling him Junnie?_

"YANAN? YOU'RE HERE? SINCE WHEN?" Jun shouted and leapt into Yanan's arms. 

"I've missed you, baby!" He ruffled Jun's hair.

 **_BABY?_ ** _WHO IS THIS MAN?_ Contrary to Minghao's indifferent expression, he was ready to burst into angry flames. 

"It's been years, Yanan, how are you? When did you move back? Why didn't you call or text me?" 

"Woah, calm down tiger, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" The man - who was revealed to be named Yanan - peered curiously at Minghao which weirdly irked him.

Minghao had taken a step back allowing Jun and Yanan to talk. He seemed a bit miffed at the fact that Jun had completely forgotten his existence once Yanan came into the picture. 

"Oh right, this is is Xu Minghao, he owns a coffee shop in this area" 

_Is that it?_ Minghao thought slightly dejected. 

"Hao, this is my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Yanan, he's so amazing and wonderful, I'm sure you'll love him just as much as I do! We have a lot to catch up on now, this is so exciting!" Jun rushed out.

 _Love… he loves him?_

“Oh, a coffee shop?” Yanan’s interest piqued. “If the coffee’s any good I’ll certainly stop by. We can go together, Junnie!” Again, Minghao was irritated which confused him to no end.

Yanan still had some errands to run so he said his goodbyes and left Jun and Minghao alone. 

"Dinner?" Jun asked.

In all honesty, Minghao wanted to go home and curl up into bed but his stomach betrayed him and rumbled. 

"Sure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooo finally some drama  
> just a quick warning the next update might take a while so keep this bookmarked!!!

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys, this fic is a collab fic of tas nd nils, hope u lot enjoy it


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